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'/ | REPORT OF THH: OHEMIST,' > OU ts Pai 
ty 
.* this method. 
_. This procedure was also used during the progress of the work con- 
- ducted by the Department at Fort Scott during the season of 1887, I 
have been told that a patent has been applied for to cover this pro- - 
cess, and have therefore placed on record the experiments made at 
‘Lawrence for the public benefit. 
No detertoration of the diffusion juice could be detected in using | 
3 =-€ 
“ THE USE OF LIGNITE. 
_In order to get lignite of the best possible variety and in the best 
form for use, a few tons of the ground article were purchased from 
the inventor of the process of filtering with brown coal, Mr. Fritz 
* °Kleeman, of Schénigen, Germany. 
! IT havealready alluded to the successful use of lignite in conjunction 
_ with lime and carbonic acid. 
| This experiment, however, did not show that any beneficial effects 
| were produced by the introduction of the lignite. 
tty Afterwards experiments were made by Mr. Kleeman himself, using 
. lignite alone. r. Kleeman said the arrangement of the clarifying 
_ tanks was not suitable to the process. The filter cloths were soon - 
. clogged and the attempt at filtration had to be abandoned. 
Later in the season I received a letter from Mr. W. J. Thompson, 
of Calumet Plantation, in which he said that he would make a triai 
of the process under more favorable conditions than obtained at Mag- 
nolia, and requesting me to send him enough of the Kleeman lignite 
for that purpose. This I gladly did. Mr. Thompson made a run of 
nineteen clarifiers with lignite, but found so many difficulties attend- 
ing the work that its further progress was abandoned.* On the other 
hand, Professor Stubbs, at Kenner, working with a small press, 
. secured results that were highly satisfactory. 
The results of the work with lignite show— 
(1) That on a large scale the filtration takes place with great diffi- 
culty, unless a very great quantity of the lignite be used and the 
_ Juice be neutral or slightly alkaline. * 
3 (2) That with a slight excess of lime, precipitated with carbonic 
acid, lignite can be successfully used to increase the filtering surface. 
(3) The decolorizing power of lignite varies with the nature of the 
sample. In some cases this property is present in a high degree ; in 
others, entirely absent. . 
4) The successful working of the process on a small scale would 
indicate that it might be worked commercially. 
(5) In juices as pure as those of sugar-canes, filtration through 
lignite, even if easily done, does not seem to be necessary. 
I had expected to have Mr. Thompson’s complete report on the 
experiments with lignite before this time, but it has not yet been re- 
ceived. + 
COMPARATIVE YIELD FROM MILL AND DIFFUSION BATTBRY. 
The comparative yield from the cane-mill and the diffusion bat- 
tery is given by Governor Warmoth in a paper read before the 
Planters’ Association at the February meeting, viz: 
*See Report of Mr. Thompson, post. 
+ Mr. Thompson’s report was received March 5, 
